Apparatus for rolling



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R. J. WEAN m AL APPARATUS FOR ROLLING Filed April 25, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 R. J. WEAN r AL 1,948,148 APPARATUS FOR ROLLING Filed April 25, 19:52 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 A a n INVEIggRS 4 ET a NW 1..

Feb. 20, 1934.

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. i WW1, mm, KN mm m mm I I I I k V &\ k :1. b. D. p p p p b NW mm M y 4 v b. b I 4 .m N m AW Z Patented Feb. 20, 1934 1,948,148 APPARATUS FOR ROLLING Raymond J. Wean and Archibald D. Evans,

Warren, Ohio, assignors .to The Wean Engineerlng Company, Incorporated, Warren, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application April 25, 1932.. Serial No. 607,250

a Claims. ('01. 29-17) Our invention relates to the art of rolling and, in particular, to an improved method and apparatus for handling material between heating and rolling operations. The invention is particularly applicable to and is herein described in connection with the manufacture of steel sheets, although it is not limited to this application.

In the manufacture of steel sheets, according to one method, sheet bars are passed through a heating furnace in pairs, after which they are subjected to repeated rolling in a roughing mill. After being rolled, the breakdowns resulting from the roughing mill operation are matched or doubled and are returned to a pack heating furnace where the doubled packs or matched breakdowns are heated for further rolling in av finishing mill. For certain gauges of product, a third heating and rolling are necessary. The product of the finishing mill is therefore doubled and returned to the pack heating furnace. After travcling therethrough, the material is again rolled to the finished gauge.

For the purpose of returning rolled material to the entrance end of the pack heating furnace, 0 ll has heretofore been the practice to use a horizontal conveyor extending from a point adjacent the doubler, on a level above the mill floor to the furnace mouth. This conveyor, of necessity, is above the driving spindle for the mills which, of course, are in axial alignment, the furnaces being side-by-side in alignment with the center lines of the mills. A raising conveyorhas been employed to lift the packs from the floor adjacent the doubler to the level of the horizontal conveyor. Numerous objections to this method and apparatus for handling the packs have been encountered. In the first place, since the horizontal conveyor passes over the driving spindle for the rolling mills, it has been necessary to remove conveyor sections when changing rolls. Another objection is that the conveyors returning the ma terial from the rolls to the pack heating furnace obstruct the floor area about the'furnace and mills so as to constitute a material handicap to efficient operation thereof. The angle of the lift ing conveyor necessitates the use of cleats for raising the heavy packs from the mill floor, and the angle of intersection between the-horizontal and inclined conveyors is such' that the packs frequently slide sidewise off the conveyor when crossing the intersection. The use of cleats on the drive conveyor makes it necessary for the operator to place the pack on the conveyor at exactly the right time so that the pack will be engaged by a cleat for raising it.

Another objectionable feature of present practice in sheet mills is that considerable time is lost between the discharge of material from the pack heating furnace and its delivery to the finishing rolls.

Our invention eliminates the foregoing objections to present mill practice and provides a method and apparatus for handling material from the mills to the pack heating furnace, which are characterized by numerous additional advan- 5 tages.

In accordance with our invention, we provide return conveyors extending from the doublers adjacent the roughing and finishing mills to the entrance end of the pack heating furnace. Each :0 conveyor starts from the doublers at substantially the level of the mill floor. They pass under the main driving spindle of the mills but above the shoe plates which support the mill housings. These portions of the conveyors comprise only idler rolls. Between the mill housings and a point substantially in line with the discharge end of the furnaces, the conveyors travel beneath the mill floor and are provided with driven chains for carrying the packs therealong. Fromthe subfloor driven conveyors, lifting conveyors rise on a gentle incline to the level of the entrance end ofthe pack heating furnace.

In order to accelerate the delivery of hot material from the pack heating furnace to the rolls, 86 we provide also a driven run-out conveyor of novel construction adapted to receive material from independent conveyors within the furnace and advance it toward the rolls along the center line of the mill.

For a complete understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings illustrating a present preferred embodiment, although it is to be understood that many changes in the construction described and illustrated may be made within the scope of our broader claims. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view partly in section showing the arrangement of the pair and pack heating furnaces, the roughing .and rolling mills. and the conveyors associated therewith, constituting a sheet mill incorporating our invention; g Figure 2 is a view to enlarged scale partly in section along the line 11-11 of Figure 1 and partly in side elevation;

Figure 3 is a side elevation to a further enlarged scale of the run-out conveyor; 1

Figure 4 is a plan view of the run-out conveyor '110 showing a portion of the pack heating furnace in horizontal section;

Figure 5 is a sectional view with parts in elevation taken substantially along the line V--V of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a sectional view substantially along the line VI-VI of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view along the line VII--VII of Figure 5.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and, for the present, to Figures 1 and 2, a sheet mill according to our invention comprises a pair heating furnace 10, a roughing mill 11, a doubler 12, a pack heating furnace 13, a finishing mill 14 anda doubler 15. The mills 11 and 14 have housings 16 mounted on shoe plates or bed rails 17to provide bearings for the rolls 18. A common driving spindle 19 extends axially between the mills for driving the rolls thereof. The spindle 19 may be d1- .ren by any source of motive power.

The pair furnace is provided with independently driven conveyors 20 preferably of the continuous type, although the specific type of conveyor is not material to the present invention. A shifting table 21 is adapted to receive material from either of the conveyors 20 for delivery to the roughing mill 18 in line with the center line of the mill 11. From the doubler 12, a return conveyor 22 extends to the entrance end of the pack heating furnace 13. The exact construction of'this conveyor will be described in greater detail hereafter.

. The pack heating furnace 13 has independent conveyors 23 for carrying material therethrough.

The furnaces 10 and 13, as far as the conveyor construction is concerned, are more fully described and claimed in the co-pending application of Raymond J. Wean, Serial No. 482,213, .flled September 16, 1930, for Improvement in continuous heating furnaces.

A driven run-out conveyor .24 with skewed rollers for receiving material from either of the conveyors 23 is positioned at the discharge end of the pack heating furnace 13 for delivering material through the finishing mill 14. The construction of the run-out conveyor 24 will be described in greater detail later. Feeding and catching tables 25 and 26 are provided on opposite sides of the mill 14 for feeding material here- .through and returning it back over the top'roll for repeated rolling. The feeding and catching tables are described more fully and claimed in our co-pending application Serial No. 605,599, filed April 16th, 1932, for Feeding and catching tables. From the doubler 15 on'the exit side of the finishing mill, a return conveyor 27 similar to the conveyor 22 extends to the entrance end of the pack heating furnace for returning thereto material requiring further heating and rolling after its first working in the finishing mill.

The details of the return conveyors 22 and 27, which are substantially identical, will now be described, referring particularly to Figures '2 and j 5 through 7. Since Figure 2 shows the finishing mill in side elevation, the return conveyor 27 associated therewith will be described in detail, although it is to be understood that the contveyor 22 is of substantially the same construcion.

- The return conveyor 2'7 comprises a descending gravity flight 28 extending from a point adjacent the doubler 15 on the exit side of the finishing mill, at substantially the level of the mill fioor,-to a conveyor tunnel 29 on the'furnace side punchings which are pressed and crimped one a over the other embracing the inner ring 36. Balls disposed between the ring 36 and the sleeve 34 constitute an anti-friction bearing for the rolls. The conveyor frame is carried over the bed rails 17 on brackets 37 secured thereto.

1 A. horizontal driven conveyor flight 38 extends along the tunnel 29 from the end of the flight 28 to a point adjacent the discharge end of the furnace 13. Floor plates 39 constitute the 'roof of the tunnel 29 but, in the showing of Figure 2, have been removed. The flight 38 comprises a frame 40 made up of structural shapes. The construction of the frame will be apparent from Figure '7. The frame carries guide chan-. nels '41 for continuous chains 42 extending around guiding sheaves 42' and driving sprockets 42". The chains run on guideribs in the channels 41, asmore fully described and claimed in our co-pending application last above mentioned. An inclined raising conveyor flight 43 extends from the discharge end of the furnace 13 to the entrance end thereof. The flight 43 is exactly similar to the flight 38 exceptthat it incorporates the drive for both said flights. This may be of standard design and construction and is, therefore, not described in detail. The flight 43 rises on a gentle slope and discharges on to a table 44, from which the packs may be'manually guided into the furnace on the left-hand conveyor 23 thereof.

' The run-out conveyor 24 is illustrated in Figure 2 as having an inclined table. The detailed showing of the conveyor in Figures 3 and 4 illustrates a horizontal table and it is to be understood that such variations in the construction details may be necessary to accommodate the apparatus described herein to existing mills of slightly different dimensions and construction.

The run-out. table 24 comprises a frame 45 built up of plates and structural shapes supported on a base 46 having leveling screws 4'7. A plurality of skewed rollers 48 are journaled .in bearings 49 at the top of the frame 45. Only a few of the bearings for the roller shafts are illustrated in detail since they are all identical. A motor 50 mountedon the base 46 drives a speed reducer 51 which drives one of the roll shafts by means of a chain and sprockets. Chain and sprocket connections 52 between adjacent roll shafts provide means for driving all the rollers at the same speed. Adjustable guides 53 and 54 are pivoted to the frame for guiding material moving across the conveyor table on to idler rollers 55 leading to the feeding table25. Idler rollers 56 and guides 57 deliver material from either of the furnace conveyors 23 to the table 24. As illustrated in'Figure 4, the furnace 13 has a center wall' forming separate chambers for heating packs for theinflrst and second. trips to the finishingzmill. This construction isdee scribed and claimed in the co-pending application, Serial No. 572,294, filed'October 31, 1931, of Raymond J. Wean, for Method and apparatus for making sheets. Either this construction or that described and claimed'in the co-pending application of Raymond J. Wean, Serial No. 482,213, may be employed. Ineither case, the right-hand furnace conveyor 23 will be used to convey material from the roughing mill, while the left-hand conveyor will be used to convey material from the finishing mill which is to be heated for a second working therein.

As explained in the co-pending application, Serial No. 482,213, referred to, it is necessary that the two classes of material be independently dischargeable in any desired sequence or cycle for accelerating the rate of production to a high speed. By driving the rollers of the run-out conveyor 24 at a considerable speed, the two classes of material may be delivered from the furnace 13 to the feeding and catching tables and the finishing mill in the desired sequence with practically no loss of time whatever. The skewed rollers cause the material to have a lateral as well as a forward movement. Material discharged by the right-hand-conveyor 23 engages the guide 53, slides therealong and is delivered to the feeding and catching table. Material discharged by the left-hand conveyor 23 similarly travels toward the right and may engage the guide 54, which directs it toward the table 25.

A brief statement of the method of operation of the invention described above and the advantages obtained from its use will now be given.

Sheet bars are heated in the furnace 10 while passing therethrough on the conveyors 20. These bars are supplied to the roughing mill 16 by the shifting table 21. After several passes through the mill, the resulting breakdowns being manually returned over the mill between passes therethrough, they are matched and delivered to the ,doubler 12 for doubling, after which they are placed on the conveyor 22. Alternatively, the breakdowns may be matched and delivered to the conveyor 22 without doubling. depending upon the kind of material to be rolled.

Since the descending flight 28 of the conveyor 22 begins at substantially-the level of the mill floor, no great effort on the part of the workman is required to place the material thereon and when once started, it moves at a substantially uniform rate down the descending flight, passing above the bed rails but below the driving spindle, and is delivered to the sub-floor, driven flight 38. The breakdowns then pass on to the inclined flight 43, which raises them to the level of the furnace hearth, and pass over table 44, whence they are manually fed into the furnace 13 on to the right-hand conveyor 23 thereof. While passing through the furnace 13, the breakdowns are heated for rolling in the finishing mill and on being discharged therefrom on to the run-out table 24, are quickly advanced to the mill 14.

After repeated passages through the finishing mill with the aid of the feeding and catching tables 25 and 26, the matched breakdowns or packs are doubled in thedoubler 15 if further rolling is necessary. They are then returned to the entrance end of the furnace 13 on the conveyor 27 in the manner already described. On their second passage through the furnace 13, the packs travel on the left-hand conveyor 23 and on being discharged therefrom on to the run-out conveyor- 24, are moved laterally as well as forwardly, to align them with the center line of the mill. The final rolling operations reduce the material to the desired finished condition, whereupon the packs are sheared and opened.

/ The structure and method described above are characterized by numerous advantages which will be apparent at once. 'In the first place, by

disposing a substantial portion of the return conveyors beneath the level of the mill floor, a great deal of the obstruction and congestion about the mills which has heretofore .been unavoidable, is entirely eliminated. The use of cleats on the old lifting flight leading from the floor up to the horizontal conveyor is likewise obviated, with all of its disadvantages, such as the necessity for timing the placing of a pack with the appearance of a cleat and the likelihood of packs falling sidewise off the conveyor on passing the junction between the inclinedand horizontal flights. Perhaps the most important advantage resulting from the use of the invention, however, is that the main driving spindle is free for removal during roll changes without any changes in the conveyor location. The top of the bed rails determines the lowest level'at which material can be returned undert-he driving spindle since the rails .support the entire weight of the mills and must be carried in a permanent foundation. The rails, furthermore, are continuous along the common axis of the mills to permit'adjustments of the housings therealong. The clearance between the top of the bed rails and the bottom of the drive spindle is generally very close, six inches or so, but by using an idler conveyor, we are able to provide in this space, a structure of sufficient strength and rigidity for supporting and conveying the packs without undesirably limiting the clearance between the returning packs and the bottom of the driving spindle.

The advantage of the driven run-out conveyor in speeding up the progress of material through the mill, as well as in aligning the material discharged from-the parallel conveyors in the pack furnace in line with the center line of the finishing mill, requires no discussion.

Although we have described and illustrated herein but a single present preferred embodiment of our invention, it is obvious that numerous changes in the practice and embodiment described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for the rolling of flat, sheet-like material comprising a mill having housings and reducing rolls, a horizontally extending drive spindle connected to a, roll, a heating furnace on one side of the mill and adapted for the heating of material rolled by the mill preparatory to further rolling thereof, and a conveyor leading from a point on the side of the mill opposite the furnace, to such furnace, the conveyor having material supporting and conveying means extending beneath the spindle and adapted to convey the material thereunder, the conveyor being positioned laterally of the mill.

2. Apparatus "or the rolling of flat, sheet-like material comprising a mill having housings and reducing rolls, a horizontally extending ,drive spindle connected to a roll, a heating furnace on one side of the mill and adapted for the heating below the floor level for a distance on the furnace side of the mill.

3. Apparatus for the rolling of flat, sheet-like material comprising av mill having housings and reducing rolls, a horizontally extending drive spindle connected to a roll, a heating furnace reducing rolls, a horizontally extending drive on one side of the mill and adapted for the heating of material rolled by the mill preparatory to further rolling thereof, and a conveyor leading from a point on the side of the mill opposite the furnace, to such furnace, the conveyor having material supporting and conveying 'means extending beneath the spindle and adapted to convey the material thereunder, the conveyor being positioned laterally of the mill, the conveyor lying below the floor level for a distance on the furnace side of the mill, and having a cover thereover constituting a substantially smooth continuation of the mill floor.

4. Apparatusfor the rolling of flat, sheet-like material comprising a mill having housings and reducing rolls, the housings being supported on bed rails, a horizontally extending drive spindle relatively closely vertically spaced with respect to the bed rails, the spindle being connected to a roll, a heating furnace on one side of the mill and adapted for the heating of material rolled by the mill preparatory to further rolling thereof, and a conveyor leading from a point on the side of the mill opposite the furnace, to such furnace, the conveyor having material supporting and conveying means extending beneath the spindle and between the bed rails and adapted to convey the material under the spindle and over the bed rails,

the conveyor being positioned laterally of 'the mill.

5. Apparatus for the rolling of fiat, sheet-like material comprising a mill having housings and reducing rolls, a horizontally extending drive spindle connected to a roll, a heating furnace on one side of the mill and adapted for the heating of material rolled by the mill preparatory to further rolling thereof, a doubler on the opposite side of the mill and a conveyor leading from a point in proximity with the doubler to the furnace, the conveyor having material supporting and conveying means extending beneath the spindle and adapted to convey the material thereunder, the conveyor being positioned laterally of the mill.

6. Apparatus for the rolling of fiat, sheet-like material comprising a mill having housings and reducing rolls, a horizontally extending drive spindle connected to a roll, a heating furnace on one side of the mill and adapted for the heating of material rolled by the mill preparatory to further rolling thereof, anda conveyor leading from a point on the side of the mill opposite the furnace and in general proximity with the floor level, to such furnace, the conveyor having material supporting and conveying means extendingbeneath the spindle and adapted to convey the material thereunder, the conveyor being positioned laterally of the mill.

7. Apparatus for the. rolling of flat, sheet-like material comprising a mill havinghousings and reducing rolls, a horizontally extending drive spindle connected to a roll, a heating furnace on one side of the milland adapted for the heat-f ing of materialrolled by the mill preparatory to further rolling thereof, and a conveyor leading from a point on the side of the mill opposite the furnace to such furnace, the conveyor having I gravity conveying means extending beneath the spindle and adapted to convey the material thereunder and having driven means adapted to receive the material after it has been conveyed under the spindle and convey the same to the furnace, the driven means being arranged to elevate the material to a higher level.

8., Apparatus for the rolling of fiat, sheet-like material comprising a. mill, heating means for supplying heat' to material which is to be rolled insuch mill, which heating means includes a plurality of substantially parallel independent conveyors for carrying material through the' heating zone, and a run-out conveyor extending between the heating means and the mill, the runout conveyor having-skew rolls therein for receiving the material from the said conveyors and move it sidewise and forwardly toward the mill, and a side guide for engaging material as it is moved sidewise on the skew rolls.

9. Apparatus-for the rolling of flat, sheet-like material comprising a mill, heating means for supplying heat to material which is to be rolled in such mill, which heating means includes a plurality of substantially parallel independent conveyors for carrying material through the heating zone, and a run-out conveyor extending between the heating means and the mill, the run-out conveyor having skew rolls therein for receiving the material from the said conveyors and move it sidewise and forwardly toward the mill, the skew rolls being driven.

RAYMOND J. WEAN. ARCHIBAID D. EVANS.-

CERTIFICATE 0F. CORRECTION.

Patent No. l, 948, 148.

{ February 20, 1934.

RAYMOND J. WEAN, ET AL.

It is hereby certified thaterror appears in the printed specification of the above numbered: patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4, line 7, claim '3, ..strike out the words "reducing rolls, a horizontally extending drive"; and "that the -said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that. the same may conform to the record of thecase in the Patent Office.

, Signed and sealed this 3rd day of April, A. D. 1934.

' (Seal) F. M. Hopkins Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

